SADLY THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED!! (9/9/24)

Berwick Rangers is the only English team to play in the Scottish leagues. Join present and past managers in this talk about the team as it was and is today as well as plans for the future.

Berwick Rangers Football Club was formed in 1881 when an enthusiastic group of players, led by local businessman and town councillor Peter Cowe, came together regularly on an informal basis for training on the Bull Stob Close pitch before getting their first taste of competitive action with home and away matches against Alnwick, both of which ended in draws. The club was officially constituted as “Berwick Rangers Football Club (Association)” in early 1884.

Known as the Black and Gold Army, the team has played at their present ground since 1954. They had previously played at Bull Stob Close and Old Shielfield Park which was nearby.

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Discover the dark side of Berwick’s history and what crimes took place in the town during the 18th and 19th centuries? Enjoy a guided tour of an old jail from a young person's perspective. Everyone is welcome!

Berwick Heritage Open Days took part in the HODs New Wave programme in 2022 where we worked with young people to develop new, innovative HODs events. We've continued this tradition with this event created by a young person for all ages.

Based on cases uncovered in the local archives, find out who was in the prison in the Town Hall and what life was like there. Come along and hear how Berwick meted out justice in the past and its consequences. View the condemned cell and hear the stories behind who was imprisoned there.

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Have a go at this interactive building and coding activity session, focussing on problem solving, storytelling and creativity. Can you manoeuvre your vehicle across one of Berwick's Bridges ? Relive your love of Lego!

Here's your chance to try something totally different. Using Lego Spike, create your own story behind your vehicle and its journey to negotiate a Berwick Bridge. Can you get your vehicle over the bridge successfully ?

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Enjoy a guided walk around this beautiful churchyard and discover the stories behind some of the monuments and the lives of those buried there as well on the Sunday about the flora and the environment.

Until the opening of the Civic Cemetery in 1856, this was Berwick's only burial ground which was used by all denominations. Over the centuries many thousands of people have been buried there. The churchyard contains many monuments of all different shapes and sizes. Some were removed in 1972 but what remains provide a fascinating insight into Berwick's history and its many inhabitants.

For more information click here.

Here's your chance to see behind the scenes and find out more about Berwick Rangers Football Club, the only English Team to play in the Scottish leagues who defeated Glasgow Rangers in 1967 in the Scottish Cup.

Berwick Rangers Football Club was formed in 1881 when an enthusiastic group of players, led by local businessman and town councillor Peter Cowe, came together regularly on an informal basis for training on the Bull Stob Close pitch before getting their first taste of competitive action with home and away matches against Alnwick, both of which ended in draws. The club was officially constituted as “Berwick Rangers Football Club (Association)” in early 1884.

Known as the Black and Gold Army, the team has played at their present ground since 1954. They had previously played at Bull Stob Close and Old Shielfield Park which was nearby.

Click here for more information.

'I must admit the new wall is marvellous beautiful', was an opinion voiced to Queen Elizabeth about the bastioned fortifications in 1568..... before condemning them as badly designed and a waste of money!

In this, one of the most northerly Heritage Open Days events, local historian, Jim Herbert, takes you on a journey amongst the northern medieval defences of Berwick that actually saw some action in the Anglo-Scottish wars and bear witness to the changes in technology from the earliest ditch defence to the 16th-century bastions. The tour takes in Spades Mire, Bell Tower and Lord's Mount.

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Find out about Spittal's maritime and fishing heritage - coastal erosion, the herring industry and much more - in this gentle walk around Spittal and the Tweed Estuary.

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Join a trio of experts to explore the carboniferous strata and its fossils at Cocklawburn. Find out the links between the geology and the industry in this area in the past - limekilns, coal and iron-and also the flora and fauna there now.

Cocklawburn is now somewhere where people come to walk on the beach. However, back in the 19th century, there were several thriving communities there - Salt Pan How, Philadelphia and Sandbanks - linked to various industrieswhich have now disappeared. These industries, including lime making and pottery, all existed because of the area's geology. The last resident only left in the 1950s.

This fascinating walk will help you discover more about different facets of this hidden gem which offers something for everyone. Walk lasts about I.5 hours.

For more information click here.

Drawing on their collections, join members of the KOSB Museum and Archives team for this talk as they discuss how people dealt with grief in the wake of World War One. How did they cope with the indescribable experience and aftermath of war?

2024 is the 110th anniversary of the outbreak of World War One which impacted the lives of many throughout the world. How did soldiers and families cope with this and how did this help create a greater understanding of the need for support for veterans and their families, something which is still needed throughout the world today.

The Kings Own Scottish Borderers Museum is closed at the moment. However, here's your chance to view some of its artefacts and archives and find out more about the collections it holds relating to the First World War and its aftermath from those working on them.

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"To be charitable and helpful and beneficial to others is to be a good angel". Join this tour of Berwick Parish Church to find out more about the angels associated with Berwick Parish Church over the years.

The Parish Church of Holy Trinity and St Mary is the most northerly Anglican Church in England. The present church was built in the 1650s and is very unusual. This talk and tour will look at some of the people connected with the church and objects still visible which tell the story of the church over the centuries.

For more information click here.

Especially open for Berwick Heritage Open Days in Berwick. Go through a normally hidden door and see inside the lower portion of a 14th-century tower embedded in a 17th-century wall. Not to be missed!

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Join Dr Elisabeth Wilson on a walk and learn how the well-to-do and slum dwellers lived cheek-by-jowl in Berwick in the 1920s and 1930s.

Based on Elisabeth's research for editing and publishing the memoirs of her father, Jock Richardson - A Berwick Boyhood - she will take people around parts of central Berwick mentioned, telling stories of her own family and also the social history of the time. The late 1920s and 1930s were periods of change for Berwick, with many people moved from poor housing in the centre of town to the outskirts. What was it like to live there whilst all this was happening?

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Berwick’s only Catholic Church is tucked away behind the houses fronting Ravensdowne. Opened in 1829, with later additions, come and see the building and admire its paintings and stained glass windows.

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Discover a purpose built ammunition store constructed in 1749 to provide safe storage of explosives required by the military garrison at the Barracks. Far enough away in case of accidents but still close enough to reach!

Previous storage arrangements in the flankers of the Brass Bastion proved unsatisfactory during preparations for an expected attack by the Jacobite forces in 1745 when most of the gunpowder was discovered to be damp and unusable. The new Magazine incorporated features designed to ensure protection against damp and potential explosion. It is built of local sandstone and is surrounded by a high wall. The walls of the vaulted, windowless structure are reinforced by eight heavy buttresses, intended to direct the explosion safely upwards. There are ventilators above the entrance steps that allow air to circulate, protecting the powder from damp. The building has a double-skinned roof and the main internal safety feature is the total absence of iron to avoid any possibility of a spark igniting the gunpowder. Among the interesting internal features are the original wooden racks.

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A chance to visit part of Berwick's Ramparts not normally open to the public. Go through a walled tunnel leading to the eastern flanker which was constructed as part of Berwick's Tudor defences, an innovation in this country and also unique.

Originally known as Middle Mount, the bastion was re-named in 1746 to commemorate the Duke of Cumberland who passed through Berwick on his way to confront the Jacobites at the Battle of Culloden. Berwick's fortifications were built between 1558 and 1569 when there was a real threat of invasion from the Scots. Berwick was the first northern European town to be defended by this system of rampart and bastion, the most advanced technology of its time. These defences were never tested as the Union of the Crowns in 1603 ended the threat of Scottish invasion. Cumberland Bastion was one of the 5 strong points set around the walls. This flanker contained short-range artillery that could scour the ditch with grapeshot, dealing with any enemy attempting to scale the walls. The defences were aligned so that guns in the flankers could give supporting crossfire along the face of the neighbouring bastion.

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Coxon’s Tower is one of the last two remaining original medieval towers on the famous walls which surround Berwick. Yet all is not as it seems!

Inside, the vaulted ceiling and casemates remain. But look closer and you see evidence of early 16th century modifications, and in the 18th century, the structure was further, and drastically, modified on the outside to maintain its role as guardian of the river estuary. Visit this tower which is not normally open to the public.

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A unique opportunity to visit an Icehouse which was built around 1786 - 1799 to store ice for Berwick's renowned salmon industry. Using ice was an innovation at this time as previously salmon had been preserved by either pickling or salting.

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Back by popular demand, an opportunity to visit and explore some Grade II listed 18th century cellars which were used at one stage as a bonded store. From at least 1781 to the early 20th century, there was a brewery on this site.

These cellars extend under 10 - 14 Silver Street, part of which was originally the town house of the Haggerston family. The house was rebuilt in the early 1700s but was in a poor state by the mid 18th century. The entrance to the cellars incorporates a date stone of 1781, when the site became a brewery. The Border Brewery operated from here under different names until the 1930s. In 1937 the business was taken over by Vaux Breweries and brewing ceased. In 1948 the premises were purchased by Blackburn and Price who ran the site as a garage until its closure in the early 2000s.

Click here for more information.

A chance to visit part of Berwick's Ramparts not normally open to the public. Go through a walled tunnel leading to the eastern flanker which was constructed as part of Berwick's Tudor defences, an innovation in this country and also unique.

Originally known as Middle Mount, the bastion was re-named in 1746 to commemorate the Duke of Cumberland who passed through Berwick on his way to confront the Jacobites at the Battle of Culloden. Berwick's fortifications were built between 1558 and 1569 when there was a real threat of invasion from the Scots. Berwick was the first northern European town to be defended by this system of rampart and bastion, the most advanced technology of its time. These defences were never tested as the Union of the Crowns in 1603 ended the threat of Scottish invasion. Cumberland Bastion was one of the 5 strong points set around the walls. This flanker contained short-range artillery that could scour the ditch with grapeshot, dealing with any enemy attempting to scale the walls. The defences were aligned so that guns in the flankers could give supporting crossfire along the face of the neighbouring bastion.

Click here for more information.

St Andrew's Wallace Green is one of only 8 Church of Scotland Churches in England. Now 165 years old, it is a lovely light and airy building with beautiful stained glass windows.

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Now a Community Centre, visit a former United Reformed Church with its origins as a Presbyterian Church in the 18th century. Go up to the Bell Tower, see their new Mini Museum, pictures of Bygone Spittal and much more.

Throughout the weekend, there will be a photographic exhibition of old Spittal and some information about Spittal during the Second World War. There will also be the opportunity to see the brand-new Mini Museum of local finds. Pop in and you can also pick up a leaflet for a self guided walk around Secret Spittal.

The congregation first opened a Presbyterian Church on this site in 1752. It was replaced by the present building which was opened in March 1878 - work had started in February 1877. The new building was designed by James Alexander Doull of Edinburgh and could seat up to 500 people. Nearly 900 people attended the opening service. In 1972, the church became part of the United Reformed Church and after joining with other congregations in the area, it closed in December 2020.

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A unique chance to explore The Maltings. Take a guided tour with exclusive access to all areas of the theatre, including the stage, dressing rooms, and backstage where the magic happens!

The Maltings is a 'mixed-use' venue, presenting both live work (theatre, dance, music, comedy, and more), films & event broadcasts, classes, and visual arts exhibitions. It was originally opened in 1990 and will close for renovation before the next Heritage Open Days. This is an opportunity to see behind the scenes and visit those parts not normally seen by the public.

Friday 13 September: Tours 1300 ; 1400 ; 1500 & 1600

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This exhibition explores the artist’s connection to Berwick and his lifelong fascination with the sea. He first visited the town in the mid-1930s and continued coming until his death in 1976, drawn by its clear air and views of the North Sea.

Lowry is one of Britain’s most recognisable artists, best known for his industrial scenes of the North-West. However, the sea was a constant presence in his life. During his childhood he enjoyed regular family holidays on the Lancashire coast. Later he travelled extensively throughout the British Isles, regularly visiting the North-East and its coast.

Lowry and the Sea includes works on loan from The Lowry, Salford, The Arts Council Collection, Royal Academy of Arts and several private collections, and is the first curated exhibition of his works in the town for 10 years. This is an amazing opportunity to see his less well known works.

Friday 13 September:

Tours 1230 ; 1330 ; 1430

Click here for more information.

'I must admit the new wall is marvellous beautiful', was an opinion voiced to Queen Elizabeth about the bastioned fortifications in 1568..... before condemning them as badly designed and a waste of money!

In this, one of the most northerly Heritage Open Days events, local historian, Jim Herbert, takes you on a journey amongst the northern medieval defences of Berwick that actually saw some action in the Anglo-Scottish wars and bear witness to the changes in technology from the earliest ditch defence to the 16th-century bastions. The tour takes in Spades Mire, Bell Tower and Lord's Mount.

Click here for more information.

Specially devised for Heritage Open Days, come along and find out about the history of this unusual Cromwellian church through six objects found inside.

When George Fenwick was Governor of Berwick in the 17th century, funds were raised to build the church using stone and timber from the disused Castle. It was completed in 1652. It was designed and built as a Puritan place of worship consisting of a regular nave with 2 side aisles and no chancel. It has no tower or steeple, reputedly at the express orders of Oliver Cromwell.

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Experience Berwick’s historic characters through our fascinating archives. See how Berwickers formed connections both in their own town and the world beyond from accounts of world travel, artistic expression, and even the supernatural!

In a time before internet and television, just how did the average person connect to the outside world? What interested and excited them, and how did they respond to the unknown? To answer these questions, we’ll display travel diaries from far and wide, beautifully illustrated family letters, cryptic shorthand, and in some of our more unusual records, we’ll show advice for Ghost Busting and sixteenth century accusations of witchcraft.
Do come along to our drop-in event, this is a real opportunity to see some of the curiosities that Berwick Archives has to offer, and who knows? This visit could start you on your own route to discovering connections in places you may not have thought to look.

Click here for more information.

This exhibition explores the artist’s connection to Berwick and his lifelong fascination with the sea. He first visited the town in the mid-1930s and continued coming until his death in 1976, drawn by its clear air and views of the North Sea.

Lowry is one of Britain’s most recognisable artists, best known for his industrial scenes of the North-West. However, the sea was a constant presence in his life. During his childhood he enjoyed regular family holidays on the Lancashire coast. Later he travelled extensively throughout the British Isles, regularly visiting the North-East and its coast.

Lowry and the Sea includes works on loan from The Lowry, Salford, The Arts Council Collection, Royal Academy of Arts and several private collections, and is the first curated exhibition of his works in the town for 10 years. This is an amazing opportunity to see his less well known works.

Click here for more information.

Berwick Old Bridge celebrates its 400th anniversary this year. Join Berwick Archivist, Linda Bankier in this walk across the bridge and find out more about its history and how it has been used in the past.

Berwick's Old Bridge has an amazing history and a unique set of archives. Using the local archives, find out about the construction of the bridge, who worked on it and its subsequent history right up to today.

Click here for more information.

Find out about Berwick's history in its Visitor Centre sited in a former Methodist Church. As well as its usual displays on Berwick, see an exhibition about the history of the Methodist Community in the town.

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